Dead Fern
by Raven2120
Summary: In a small, dark, and messy office, in the Shinra building, two Turks are having a conversation, Reno and Elena. Elena askes Reno a question and he tries to answer.


The reason why? Hell if he knew, it might be the way she is so easy to annoy. How one crude or smart-ass comment can make her grind her teeth and glare at him with those angry hazel eyes. Then let out an annoyed snort and quickly storm out of the room. While he smirks pleased with himself at how he barely had to try.

Her piercing gaze aimed at him, her arms crossed and her mouth set in a firm line. He lazily took a drag of his cigarette. His lanky form leaned back against the edge of the cluttered desk. He let out a stream of toxic smoke. His piercing aquamarine eyes glanced over at the woman. He flashed her a trademark smirk, one that thoroughly annoyed her a fact that he was well aware of.

The one corner of her mouth twitched and her small hand closed into a shaking fist. She closed her eyes, struggling to keep the remainder of her cool. Why did he torment her so? Why and how did he get under her skin so easily? She mentally counted to ten. She let out a small sigh and opened her eyes, then narrowed them into a glare at the sight of the unkempt redhead. As he leaned against the messy desk, calmly ignoring her question while he finished the cigarette. She hated being ignored. It was part of her past, her sister always outdoing her, she was never noticed. Living in someone else's shadow is torturous. Why couldn't she be as calm and collected as him? Her sister never lost control of her emotions. It seems like she never could measure up to her sister.

His aloof manner and smart-ass comments caused her to lose her cool faster than you can say 'mother smother'. Oh how badly she wanted to smack him or punch him. Her anger spiked again when he continued to smirk, opting to take yet another drag of his cigarette. Those things were going to kill him one day. She glared at the cancer stick. Who would be there to hit if those things killed him? As much as he annoyed her, and he constantly did, the Turks were a tight-nit family. They understood each other, hell they even bickered like siblings. Turks simply stuck together, they were the only group of friends she truly had. If one of them were to die…she'd be heartbroken. She didn't want to chance losing a friend or family member…. When Tseng had almost died…. She shook her head banishing the thought.

Her gaze roamed around the disorganized mess that was his office. The bare gray walls on all sides gave the room a frigid feel. Papers littering parts of his desk and the floor. Take-out wrappings and bags, some in the metal trashcan numerous others on the floor around it. It was slovenly, her nose wrinkled in disdain. How can he work in here, when it is this dirty? Her gaze came to rest on the source of the mess. His wild red hair had obviously never seen a comb. His black suit and white shirt were wrinkled and he had again left a few buttons undone, exposing part of his chest. His bright eyes caught her hazel ones and her eyes immediately moved on to study the dead potted fern to the right of him; her gaze finally came to rest on the floor in front of her. Shifting uncomfortably in the dim lighting of the office. Arms falling to her sides, she looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

"Those things are going to kill you one of these days. I don't see how can you even breathe in here, let alone work, it's filthy" She angrily brushed her hair out of her face scowling with disdain at the cigarette in-between his fingers. She wanted to shove that thing up his…

He quirked an eyebrow and stared at her. Running his free hand through his tousled red locks he smiled impishly eyes blazing with mischievous intent. He took a few steps towards her, but wisely kept himself more than an arms length away.

"Gods 'Lena you nag too much, what are ya my mother?" He knew how to push just the right buttons. He watched her eyes narrow again. These next few comments would send her into a rampage. This was one of his favorite activities and he enjoyed it very much. He leaned over and quickly extinguished his cigarette in the fern's pot. It had now become a makeshift ashtray. He slowly let his smirk show through as he set off a ticking time bomb. He straightened up and stared at her.

"Well you're just 'bout as bossy as her" just for good measure he leaned in closer pretending to study her face. "Hmm…and ya gotta lot of wrinkles too". She spluttered for a bit, outraged at his comment. Her scowl was menacing and it promised retribution.

"You're such an ass!" she rolled her eyes. "Gods bless the woman that had to raise you, she must have an unending source of patience just to keep herself from strangling you". It wasn't even lunch yet; they were well overdue for a verbal spare. Hell, he didn't want to go back to the pile of paperwork. The corner of his mouth lifted into yet another trademark smirk.

He smiled devilishly as her scowl deepened. He flippantly waved her off. "Don't get your panties in a bunch 'Lena. No need to be over-dramatic, a real Turk has patience" he adjusted his goggles and brushed the red bangs out of his eyes.

"We can't have you losing your cool whenever Tseng walks in the room" his voice mocking and aquamarine eyes glowing with amusement.

"You really need to stop that awful habit of drooling when you see him". Her arms akimbo and mouth pursed.

"I don't drool and for your information I have patience" she ground her teeth together barely controlling the urge to punch him. She muttered to herself "That's why I haven't killed you" and she continued to mumble curses under her breath.

He chuckled.

"Come on 'Lena I know you want me…admit it you love me" he wiggled his eyebrows.

She scoffed.

"Yeah Reno I want you about as much as I want to eat whatever is festering in that bag" her hand flew out wildly to point at a grease soaked paper bag that had a few sprouts of green mold growing on it.

"You are such an egotistical jerk, I can't stand you" she continued to rant and rave while he just stood there smirking.

"You are too emotional" his smirk grew as she glared at him

"Asshole"

"Tseng obsessed ditz"

She took a step closer, she was fuming. While he just stared down at her, his eyes were twinkling with amusement.

"Womanizer"

He took another step towards her. They were only a few feet apart.

"Hmm jealous, are we? And here I thought you only had eyes for dear Tsengy-kins" his voice mocking, as he again took another step.

She drew back a fist and put as much force as possible behind her punch as she threw it towards his smug face. Reno caught it his covering her fist with his hand, protecting his face from the impact. He quickly grabbed her other hand and pushed her body against the closed door. He moved in close, out of her foot's range, effectively pinning her in place.

"Tsk Tsk now 'Lena what have you learned about self-control, you are making rookie mistakes" He smirked again while she glared and grimaced. A mischievous glint formed in her eyes, this went unnoticed by Reno. A plan formulated in her mind.

"Y-you..you arrogant.." he cut her off mid-sentence

"Ya really should work on the stuttering 'Lena makes ya look like a dork, yo" he flashed her a grin and winked. She continued to play along as she huffed angrily and then looked down at their feet.

"Hmm…you know Reno maybe I am a little jealous" she released a defeated sigh.

His eyebrows shot up, eyes wide, a skeptical look covering his face.

"I mean all those secretaries and all those women on the missions" She pressed her body up against his. His eyes widened in surprise, not quite believing she was making a move on him.

"I never could get you to notice me…that's all I really wanted"

She whispered softly into his ear. He didn't trust her.

"Why so silent Reno? You don't want me…hmm and I was hoping something would happen right here." She leaned into him again as he took a step back she followed him. Keeping their bodies pressed intimately together.

His eyes still widened in shock.

"'L-lena….?" His grip on her hands wasn't as tight and his hands slide down to loosely grip her wrists. She flattened her palms against his chest and quickly stood on her tiptoes to press her lips against his in a demanding kiss. After a few seconds he leaned forward into the kiss and responded, letting his hands drift down to lightly touch her waist. She moved one of her hands up behind his neck and pulled him towards her, deepening the kiss. Then it slowly slide back down to rest on his chest. He closed his eyes and continued to hungrily kiss her. Hey who was he to deny any woman what she wanted?

Her mischievous hazel eyes flew open as she put all her strength behind her hands as she pushed him over. His aquamarine eyes flew open in surprise as he found himself toppling over backwards, his hands flailed helplessly in the air as he fell back into the potted fern. The fern and Reno crashed to the floor in a mixture of dirt and curses.

Elena smirked and flipped her blonde hair out of her face. She calmly smoothed out her black suit while smirking down at the dirt covered Reno.

"Now which one of us is the stuttering idiot?" she cackled merrily and made a quick exit out of his office. He stood up quickly and brushed the dirt off of his rumpled suit. Then ran a hand through his fiery red hair.

"That conniving bitch" he mused, he should have seen that coming. He'd find a way to get her back. He continued to think about her question…Why does he torment her…hell because it's so much damn fun. Oh mark his words she would pay. He vowed on all that was Turk in him she would receive retribution for this incident. She might have won this one but he swore that he would get her. He smiled devilishly…this would be too much fun.

A/N: That was fun to write. The idea was swimming around in my head for a while. I had to let it out and this is the product. I tried to read over it a few times to catch spelling and grammar mistakes. If I missed any please point them out. Constructive criticism is appreciated! I own nothing but a few pieces of lint and a paper clip. I went through and edited this thing again. I found a few mistakes and I just wanted to make sure I smoothed it out more. The writing seemed kind of choppy. I hope I caught all the mistakes.


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